Fooling AI recruitment softwear
The days of simply firing off a copy of your CV and waiting for the invitation to attend an interview are long gone. It has been standard practice for many years for all posts to have a Person Specification (PS ) against which application forms/supporting letters are judged. The judging was done by humans now often replaced by AI. Using AI to analyse the applications against the essential criteria is certainly quicker and more efficient than having members of the recruitment panel go through each application form trying to find evidence. A process open to unintended bias. But there are risks.
AI is very literal if the PS includes the requirement to have a minimum of the 3 years experience then it will exclude a candidate with 2 years and 6 months experience despite meeting all the other essential requirements! Similarly if the essential requirement is to have a formal qualification such as an MBA and the candidate is on such a course but has yet to qualify AI will rule the candidate out. Where as humans exercise discretion AI doesn’t.
As an example I was recruiting for a management post in a Residential Care Home for older people. In the PS under essential criteria I put “ must have experienced of working with older people”. Until I was challenged by HR who asked why I wouldn’t recognise the relevance of some one with care experience of other client groups such as adults with a physical disability or people with a learning disability. I changed the criteria to,” care experience with adults”, immediately widening the net for potential candidates. And I was please I did because otherwise I would have ruled out some strong candidates.
The way Application Tracking Systems (ATS) software work is based on key words and phrases, the same key words and phrases used in the organisations /employers JD and PS. So candidates who make it easy for the software to identify evidence will be successful. Such as mirroring the exact words and phrases used in the JD and PS weaved into the personal statement, using bullet points to make information easy to scan, and using standard headings such as Education, Qualifications, Work Experience and the headings used in the PS such as Knowledge and Skills. Any thing that make the it easy for ATS to read the application including using standard fonts like Arial or Times New Roman will improve the likely hood of success.
ATS is very systematic but allows little room for creativity or the unusual and different. As some one with a lot of experience of recruitment and many, many long hours spent short listing I know that some of the most interesting applications are from candidates with unusual experiences and different backgrounds which simply don’t fit or tick the standard boxes. As human interviewers we would debate whether to include this person in the short list , a while card if you will. And often when interviewed they offer something extra.
In my opinion APT should be used with caution it’s only as good as the PS it’s working to. It is useful when recruiting to posts that attract large numbers of applicants providing a quick and efficient way of whittling the numbers down to a manageable number to interview. But as yet with the limitations I have identified I don’t see it as appropriate for senior posts or in fact any management level post.
Blair McPherson former director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
